The effects of Commiphora mukul extract on spermatogenesis and testosterone levels in male diabetic rats

Abstract

Objective:The strong antioxidant activity of Commiphora mukul prompted us to conduct the present study to explore whether treatment with C. mukul extract (CME) would have any protective influence on sperm parameters, testosterone levels, and plasma glucose levels in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control, control animals treated with CME, diabetic animals, and diabetic animals treated with CME. CME extract (300 mg/kg) was administered for 60 days by daily gavage. Diabetes was induced by an intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg/kg STZ. The epididymal sperm count, weight, motility, morphology, viability, and serum testosterone and glucose levels were determined. Results: In the diabetic animals, CME decreased blood glucose levels (p< 0.05), increased the total sperm count (p< 0.05), and decreased the proportion of sperm with abnormal morphology (p< 0.05). Diabetes reduced sperm motility (p< 0.001), and CME supplementation partially reversed this effect of diabetes (p= 0.003). Furthermore, in diabetic animals, CME decreased the proportion of immotile sperm (p< 0.001). In rats, diabetes caused a significant decrease (p< 0.05) in serum testosterone levels (F[3, 28] = 3.283, p= 0.035), but treatment of diabetic animals with CME increased serum testosterone levels. Conclusion:The present study demonstrated that C. mukul possesses proandrogenic activity and exerts a beneficial effect on sperm parameters in diabetic rats. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNon-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. www.eCERM.org AA Rezaei et al. Effect of Commiphora mukul on spermatogenesis in diabetic rats

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“…belongs to family Burseraceae. It is commonly called Guggal or Guggul.38It has been utilized for over 2,500 years as a valued herb in Ayurvedic Medicine, a system of South Asian Medicine practiced in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan 37 . It is used as an anti-inflammatory, carminative and hypoglycemic, antiseptic, astringent, sedative, stomachic, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, anthelminthic, depurative, vulnerary, demulcent, aphrodisiac, liver tonic, and anti-spasmodic.…”